• Private school owners asked the Sindh provincial government to announce a clear policy for the classification of educational institutions.
• Said that 80% of staff in private schools have been vaccinated.
• Private school owners stated that the closure of educational institutions will increase the number of out-of-school children in Sindh.

Karachi: The Association of Private Schools rejected the Sindh Provincial Government’s decision to close schools amid the surge in COVID-19 cases, and held a meeting on Monday to determine the future course of action.

After the COVID-19 positive rate exceeded 10% and schools and other departments were closed from July 26 to curb the spread, the Sindh provincial government re-imposed the lockdown restrictions.

Aleem Qureshi of the Association of Private Schools said that the provincial government should announce a clear and explicit policy on educational institutions, because schools and universities should start a new academic conference in August.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the school year was affected for the third consecutive year. The provincial COVID-19 working group should consult with stakeholders rather than make unilateral decisions,” he said, according to the publication in news.

Qureshi suggested that the working group consider a Punjabi-style summer vacation before July 31 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. “Closing schools and colleges is not the solution, because now is the time to recruit new students,” he said.

He pointed out that since 80% of faculty and staff in private schools have been vaccinated, the risk of spreading COVID-19 due to schools is very low. He insisted that private schools have been strictly following the COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

He said that the closure of educational institutions will increase the number of out-of-school children in Sindh, which has increased from 4 million to 6 million in the past two years.

He said that an emergency meeting of the province’s private school associations will be held on July 26 to discuss future action plans.

“In Sindh, as many as 3,000 schools were closed and 200,000 people were unemployed. Everyone admits that SOPs are implemented in educational institutions.”

He asked why the authorities were interested in closing educational institutions if shops and factories could remain open for 12 hours and 24 hours. “When no other departments are closed, they can’t help but let the school close,” he said.